Natural Building and Workshop Related Resources:
www.architecture2030.org – An organization based in Albuquerque, NM committed to reducing worldwide greenhouse gasses by the year 2030 via sustainable building design.
www.builderswithoutborders.org – A group of natural builders bringing better housing to people worldwide.
www.cobworks.com – Committed to building natural structures in Mayne Island, Canada.
www.dcat.net – Development Center for Appropriate Technology.
www.dirtcheapbuilder.com – A great source for low cost books in many areas of natural building from many pioneers in the field.
www.greenbuilder.com -Green Building Professionals Directory & Resources.
http://thelaststraw.org/ – The International Journal of Straw Bale Building.
www.naturalhomes.org – A website with a worldwide view of natural building with a large following.
www.solarliving.org – The Solar Living Institute in Hopland, CA, a non-profit solar training organization that promotes sustainable living through inspirational environmental education.
www.shelterpub.com – A website for some unique building books and resources not often found elsewhere.
http://strawbaleveg.co.uk/–Straw Bale Veg – Workshops and educational information, established by Simon Gibbins in the UK, who has mastered the art of growing vegetables using straw bales. Have left over bales following a straw bale build? A great way to re-purpose them and have a small space garden too. The DVD available is great for schools, seniors, libraries, people of all ages and abilities.
www.thenaturalbuilders.com The Natural Builders is a California-licensed contracting company with an international portfolio using natural building in a range of applications. Their efforts on integrating natural materials with sustainable design across a wide spectrum of applications from building codes to family homes and more. Here is a great link for some good information – enjoy! http://www.naturalbuilding.com/publications/
Business links with natural interests, affiliations:
Findelio Business Blogs Directory – A link to the Findelio Search Directory.
http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com – EcoBusinessLinks-Green Directory – The largest hand-picked green directory on the net: Find organic food, cheap solar energy, sustainable architecture, sustainable investments, a sustainable community and more.
www.myhomenm.com – Website of Ben Levine, an agent with Coldwell Banker Legacy in Albuquerque, NM and is a like-minded lover of mud.
Check out our interview, Designing Natural and Environmentally Sustainable Homes on New Mexico Homes, one of the top sites for New Mexico real estate, including Las Cruces, NM real estate. New Mexico Homes also services California real estate and Texas real estate.
An article in Italian from the Houzz.com website, which featured an image of our work – which happens to be our own bathroom, we often ironicall refer to as our “Italian villa” looking bathroom with it’s lime plasters and stone mosaic tiles. http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/57075658/list/rivestimenti-in-terra-cruda-per-una-casa-a-elevato-comfort-abitativo
Vendors/Materials Suppliers in Northern NM area and beyond we enjoy working with:
www.newmexicoearth.com – One of the largest adobe block factories in the country. Located in Albuquerque, NM. These good folks know adobe.
Solarworks, Ojo Sarco, NM – Brad Rose. Expert solar design and installation in-and-around northern NM for 30+ years. 505-689-2455
Skyline Metal & Roofing – Alamosa, CO. This small business run by David, provides metal roofing which can be custom created per your specs. 719-852-0113.
Rastra, Inc. – We built with Rastra block ICF for the first time in 2015 and worked very closely with the new owner (as of spring 2015) Russell Ferry and his manager Kim O’Conner. They guided us along and provided excellent service and support. They are in the process of building a strong new image for Rastra and it shows, we received nothing but top notch information and attention to our needs all the way down the line. We would we happy to discuss any concerns any builder might have about using Rastra as their ICF choice – http://www.rastra.com/
Enduracoat – Acid stain cement products. We created our first acid stained floor in 2015. It requires experience and knowledge of the process for ultimate success. We own ours to the technical support we received from Rob at Enduracoat, who walked us patiently through our series of color tests and through the challenges we faced as we were grasping the application process. We can’t thank him enough, and highly recommend his company – http://www.enduracoat.net/
Local Artists and Craftspeople we know:
www.battrellphotography.com – Fine art photographer Mark Battrell who has a beautiful fine art series of organic object photos to enhance a home, studio or office. His beautiful image graces our logo masthead, we thank him so much for creating it.
www.nicholasherrera.com – Well-known santo, retablo and metal sculpture artist Nicholas Herrera from El Rito, NM who captures the spirit of New Mexico via traditional and contemporary Spanish Folk Art and conceptual sculptures. His work can be seen on one of our favorite projects, the creation of our custom doors in which he tells the story of our land, homesteaded back in the 1800’s by his family. For a peek of the piece on our website –http://earthentouchbuilders.com/gallery-items/folk-art-on-a-custom-door/
http://www.davidmichaelkennedy.com/ – In his words: “Working in New York in the 1970s and 80s, I developed a successful career in advertising, editorial, album cover, and portrait photography. In 1986, leaving my commercial career behind to concentrate solely on my personal work, I moved to northern New Mexico where I began documenting the land and cultures of the southwest.” We built David’s new gallery and studio space in 2015 featured here: http://earthentouchbuilders.com/gallery-items/rastra-block-photo-studio-completed/